Page 13 of Outside The Wire

“Nope. I’ve got it.”

He placed his hand on the shopping cart, quirking his eyebrow at me. “I’m Asher. And it’s winter, it’s icy, and I don’t mind helping. Please.”

Well, when he put it like that, it made me sound like an ungrateful bitch. “Thank you. I appreciate it. I’m Holly.”

“Holly,” he said, testing it out. “I like that. It suits you. Very…perky.”

“Perky? Maybe.”

Just wait until he heard my last name.

“So, Holly,” he said, pushing the cart to my vehicle. “Didn’t you have anyone that could help you get this rug?”

“Well, my friend offered, but I stupidly told her I could do it all on my own. I had a plan.”

“You did measure,” he chuckled.

“Hey, it’s a good method. I’ve used it before,” I said defensively.

“I’m sure you have. Maybe you should suggest it to the Office of Weights and Measures.”

I snorted at that. “Like they’d listen.”

“Yeah, probably not.”

He parked the cart and grabbed the rug, tugging it out. In no time, he had it positioned in my SUV just like I had planned. It was a little longer than I thought and didn’t exactly fit, but he was able to bend it and make it fit in the back and shut the hatch. When he was done, he grabbed the cart and grinned at me.

“I’ll take it back. I can’t risk it getting away from you again.”

“Probably for the best. It didn’t listen to me the first time I told it to stop.”

“Yeah, my truck can’t take another beating.”

My jaw dropped and I turned beet red. “Your—” I swallowed hard. “That was your— You didn’t say anything.”

“You were determined to leave a note.”

“I—did.”

“And I’m sure now I’ve got your number,” he said, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

“What makes you think that?”

“Somehow, I don’t see you as the type of woman to cut and run. Am I right?”

Dammit, he had me pegged. Was it too late to run back and grab it before he could get my number? Did I want him to have my number?

“Maybe.”

“Of course, I could always help you haul this rug into your place.”

“Why would you do that?”

“To see if your measuring really works.”

He didn’t need to grin for me to know he was teasing me.

“I don’t let strangers into my house.”

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